Apparatus for elevating and cleaning material of a granular nature.



F. BEDUWE. APPARATUS FOR ELEVATIN G AND CLEANING MATERIAL OF A GRANULAR NATURE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1907.

91 4,475 n v Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

WITNESSES A INVENTUR 9w wm/ 6 vm'ru RN Ez/ UNITED sTAirEsr ENr oF roE'.

1 RANZ BEDUWE, OFLUTTIUH, BELGIUM.

APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING AND CLEANING MATERIAL OF A GRANULAR NATURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 9, 1909.

Application filed May 6, 1907. Serial No. 372,082.

a To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, FRANZ Bnnuwn, en

gineer, a subject of the King of Belgium, residing at 21 Rue Paradis, Li'ittich, Belgium, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Ap aratus for Elevating and Cleaning Materia of a Granular Nature; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to ap aratus for elevating and at the same time c caning material in a form which may come under the generic term granular though it must be understood that its application is not lim ited to grain and particles of a similar size,

since it may equally well beused for the treatment of beets, or a quantity of bodies of comparatively large size.

Accordingto this invention the beets or other material mixed with water are conveyed, together with the water; into the shorter pipe of a reversed si' hon and compressed air is introduced at t e lower end of the longer pipe whereby an intimate mixture of air, water and beetroot is produced. In this way the density of the mixture of granul'ar material, water and air in the longer pipe is reduced, and the mixture rises in the same, while the beets and water in the shorter pi e move downward. By this movement at tlie same time a washing of the beets is obtained, the dirt being removed from them by their mutual friction, so that after their upward movement very little if any additional washing is required.

One construction of apparatus according to this invention is illustrated by way of exam le in the accompanying drawing.

his ap aratus comprises a communicating or si on pipe having two members of unequal en th a and I) connected together by a, bent mem er 0. The shorter pipe a is preferably larger in diameter than the pipe I). The difference in the height of the two branches represents the total height to which the beetroot is to be raised. The proportion is preferably selected in such a manner that the said difference or actual hei ht of raising is smaller than the height of t e shorter pi e. At the lower end of the pipe I) is inserte a vessel the interior of which is provided with a perforated cylindrical pipe e, which is connected to the air supply pipe f. The mixture of beets and water is conveyed, say, dimet from the washing trough into the shorter pipe a, while com )ressed air is introduced from below into t e pipe I). The mixture of air, water and beets is less dense than the liqluid in the descending pipe a and the level w ich is at first the same in the two pipes, increases in the pipe I) in proportion to the quantity of air introduced, so that finally the beets are discharged at the top of the pipe together with the water.

Owing to the speedof the current induced by the air which is'maintained the beets in the pipe 0 cannot rise upward but are forced to move downward in the same. The speed at which the beets are raised is greater and their cleansing is the more perfect the longer the descending pipe at is made and conseuently the greater the charge on the siphon. t can be modified by the regulation of the quantity of air supplied to the apparatus. he beets conveyed upward are preferably dischar ed into a perforated vessel h from which t e dirtv water is allowed to escape.

When the lifting device is not in use the a a high pressure can be suddenly introduced whereby the beets are forced upward in the pipe I) or the pipe I) can be provided at the top with a slide valve g. After the closing of the latter the air introduced will expel the beets from the pipe a.

The use of the apparatus according to this invention has considerable advantages over well known ap aratus.

The pumps or raising water, the hoisting devices for beets such as wheels and worm conveyers are no longer necessary and no mechanically operated parts come into contact with the material during the raising and washin All fire broken fragments are conveyed with the beetroot and at once extracted, while hitherto it was necessary to use special devices for the urpose.

In washing 0t er materials, such as, for instance, grain, there is the special advantage that, owing to the friction set up between the individual particles the roduct is at the same time polished, whic otherwise has to be done with some special'a paratus.

Having now particularly escribed and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the-same is to 0e formed, I declare that what I'claim is 1 In apparatus for elevating and cleaning uit having'an'upwardly and a downwardly directed portion, meansfor introducin the ranular material after admixture with a liquid into the downwardly directed portion of the. conduit 'a compressed airdistrlbuting device in the lower end of the upwardly (llrected portion of the conduit an a receiver adjacent to the upper end of this conduit for the material and liquid as they are discharged therefrom by the an lift as set forth.

2. In apparatus for elevating and cleaning granular material the combination of a conduit having'a downwardly directed portion and an upwardly directed portion of greater length than the downwardly directed portion the whole constituting an inverted siphon, means for introducing the granular material 'after admixture with a li 'uid into the upper end of the downwardly irected portion of the conduit, a chamber in the lower end of the upwardly directed portion of the conduit a compressed air distrlbuting device within this chamber and a receiver adjacent to the l I l upperend of this conduit for the material an llquid as they are discharged therefrom a by 'the'air lift as set forth granular material the combinatlon of a con- 3. In apparatus for elevating and cleaning granulanmaterial the combination ofa conult havmg a downwardly directedportion and an upwardly directed portion of greater length than the downwardly directed portion the whole constituting an inverted siphon, means for introducing the granular material after admixturewith a li uid into the upper end of the downwardly (irected portion of the conduit,'a chamber in the'lowe'r endof the upwardly directed portion of the conduit a compressed air distrlbuting device, within this chamber a valve in the upper portion of the upwardly directed'conduit and a receiver adjacent to the 11' per end of this conduit for the material and lquid as they are discharged therefrom by the an lift as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

FRANZ BEDUWE.

Witnesses L. MOINEAU,

P. QoUBAN, 

